An elderly woman gets a fake police call that drugs have been found in a parcel in her name. By intimidating him, he was forced to deposit Rs 78 lakh as “RBI Security Amount”. Police tracked the case and arrested three accused from Gujarat, the network is still under investigation.
Kolkata. An elderly woman living in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, was cheated in a way that no one had even imagined. Just one automated phone call, a false scare and a fake “customer care number” took away all the savings of his life. This incident once again proves how rapidly incidents like phone call fraud, online scams, and fraud by impersonating fake police officers are increasing. This was revealed by the Kolkata Police on Wednesday after about one and a half years when they caught three scammers involved in this scam. Who admitted during interrogation that he had defrauded an elderly woman of more than Rs 78 lakh.
When and how did the woman get cheated?
Kolkata Police said that the cyber crime wing arrested the suspects from different parts of Gujarat. The case is of March 9, 2024, when a woman living in Kolkata received a strange call on her mobile, she had no idea that it was going to be the most expensive call of her life. The call informed that a parcel in his name had been “canceled”. The woman thought that maybe it was a case of some online order. So without thinking anything, he called the “customer care number” given in the message.
What did the scammer say to the woman?
A fraud started from here, in which he was intimidated, threatened and his mental condition was weakened by accusing him of sending a parcel full of drugs in his name. The fake caller introduced himself as a Mumbai Police officer and said that 200 grams of contraband was found in the parcel. The woman repeatedly said that she had nothing to do with it, but the scammers made the story more scary by saying that her Aadhaar card had been misused and her bank account was suspicious.
How and where was the money transaction done?
In an atmosphere of fear, the woman was asked to deposit the security amount in the RBI so that her name could be “cleaned”. The most dangerous thing – he was also told not to talk about this to anyone. In fear and panic, the woman transferred Rs 78.3 lakh to the account given by the scammers. Only later when he realized his mistake, he contacted the police. The Cyber Crime Wing of Kolkata Police took immediate action. The money trail was traced and after continuous digital tracking, three accused were arrested from different areas of Gujarat. The police is now busy finding the remaining members of this entire network.
Could an automated call take away all your savings?
Many times scammers put people in fear by making a simple IVR call or sending a recorded message. People get nervous after hearing words like parcel, police, bank, drugs or tax in a call and call back immediately without checking. This woman also made the same mistake.
How are frauds carried out in the name of fake police officers and RBI?
The fraudster kept pressurizing the woman by pretending to be a Mumbai Police officer. This is an old but extremely effective strategy. People are made to believe that their names have been implicated in some crime, and to get out of it they have to deposit money in the name of “security”.
How did the police trace the entire money trail to Gujarat?
It is not easy to trace a huge amount like Rs 78 lakh, but the cyber crime team caught the entire network of scammers through bank transactions, digital transactions, and mobile location.